An image-forming apparatus, such as a printer, a fax machine, or a photocopier, includes a system for extraction of ink pellets from a container, for delivery to the image-forming apparatus. Conventionally, solid ink or phase change ink printers receive ink in solid form, either as pellets or as ink sticks. The solid ink pellets are placed in a container, and a feeding mechanism transports the solid ink to a heater assembly, which melts the solid ink for jetting onto an imaging-forming device.
In general, solid-ink pellets are stored in a container, and are extracted for print media production, whenever required. A vacuum source pulls the solid-ink pellets from an extraction point of the container, using a vacuum tube. When stored in the container over time, the solid-ink pellets tend to bridge or clump together. Bridging occurs close to the extraction point of the container due to solid-ink particle static charge that prevents motion between the particles. Further, during the prilling process that forms the solid-ink pellets, some ink-pellets may not cool appropriately and may fuse together, resulting in fused ink particle clumps, also referred to as agglomerates. These bridges and agglomerates obstruct consistent flow of solid-ink particles to the image-forming device.
A known approach to this problem aims to break up the bridges and clumps. An existing solution requires manually agitating a container holding solid-ink pellets to disturb the solid-ink pellets, resulting in breakage of the bridges and clumps. In general, the containers store gallons of solid-ink pellets, and manually agitating the container may be cumbersome, requiring human intervention.
It would be highly desirable to have a simple and cost-effective system for maintaining the flowability of solid ink-pellets from a container, breaking up bridges and clumps.